CrossOver Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to CrossOver for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is Wine, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to CrossOver and 16 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to CrossOver are PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac, Parallels Desktop, Whisky and Mythic.

filter to find the best alternatives

CrossOver alternatives are mainly Compatibility Layer Tools, but if you're looking for Game Library Managers or Virtualization Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Mac and Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to CrossOver.
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Alternatives list

  1. Wine icon

    Wine

     743 likes
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    An advanced, free open-source tool enabling Windows applications to run on Linux and other systems without emulation. It offers configuration options, supports diverse operating systems, and benefits from continuous updates and robust community support to enhance Windows app compatibility.

    48 Wine alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    Wine screenshot 1
     
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    1
    36
    Comments about Wine as an Alternative to CrossOver
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    It’s free. And you never have to buy anything for wine. You can keep it as long as you want!! And I love that special ability! Thanks!

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    CrossOver Icon
    Wine icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Wine is a great CrossOver alternative.

    • Wine is the most popular Android, Mac, Linux & Android Tablet alternative to CrossOver.

    • Wine is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to CrossOver.

    • Wine is Free and Open SourceCrossOver is Paid and Proprietary
    • Wine is Privacy focused and LightweightCrossOver is not according to our users
  2. PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac icon

    PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac

     247 likes
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    PlayOnLinux is a graphical frontend for the Wine software compatibility layer which allows Linux and Mac users to install Windows-based video games, Microsoft Office (2000 to 2010), Microsoft Internet Explorer, as well as many other applications.

    44 PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Wine
    • FreeBSD
    PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac screenshot 1
     
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    17
  4. Parallels Desktop icon

    Parallels Desktop

     145 likes
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    Virtualization software for running Windows, Linux, and other OSes on Mac. Supports Windows 11 on Apple Silicon, resource adjustments, and seamless app access and file sharing between OS environments.

    56 Parallels Desktop alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Subscription
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Chrome OS
    Parallels Desktop screenshot 1
     
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    2
    6
    Comments about Parallels Desktop as an Alternative to CrossOver
    Guest
    Negative
    10

    CrossOver emulates windows application layer. parallels creates a fully virtualised machine and requires Windows installation, like if it was a physical computer.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    6

    This is a virtualization tool, not a compatibility layer

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    CrossOver Icon
    Parallels Desktop icon

    • This alternative is disputed. Parallels Desktop is a legitimate CrossOver alternative, but it might have issues that some users think are important.

    • Parallels Desktop is the most popular commercial alternative to CrossOver.

    • Parallels Desktop is Paid and ProprietaryCrossOver is also Paid and Proprietary
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    Parallels Desktop icon
    Parallels Desktop

    Virtualization software for running Windows, Linux, and other OSes on Mac. Supports Windows 11 on Apple Silicon, resource adjustments, and seamless app access and file sharing between OS environments.

    https://www.parallels.com
    Learn More
  6. Whisky icon

    Whisky

     21 likes
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    Whisky provides a clean and easy to use graphical wrapper for Wine built in native SwiftUI. You can make and manage bottles, install and run Windows apps and games, and unlock the full potential of your Mac with no technical knowledge required.

    33 Whisky alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Wine
    • Homebrew
    Whisky screenshot 1
     
  7. Mythic icon

    Mythic

     10 likes
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    An open-source Epic Games Launcher alternative and normal game launcher for macOS written in Swift. We started this project to create a GUI frontend for Legendary and to play Windows games using game porting toolkit by Apple.

    48 Mythic alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Mythic screenshot 1
     
  8. WineBottler icon

    WineBottler

     29 likes
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    WineBottler is an App to manage and wrap your Windows apps into convenient OS X apps. WineBottler helps you with running Windows programs on OS X.

    35 WineBottler alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Wine
    WineBottler screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about WineBottler as an Alternative to CrossOver
    Guest
    Negative
    -2

    It's much more complicated than Crossover. CrossOver is simple to use and WineBottler is much more complicated

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    CrossOver Icon
    WineBottler icon
    • WineBottler is Free and Open SourceCrossOver is Paid and Proprietary
  10. Pegasus icon

    Pegasus

     28 likes
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    Pegasus is a graphical frontend for browsing your game library (especially retro games) and launching them from one place. It's focusing on customizability, cross platform support (including embedded devices) and high performance.

    49 Pegasus alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Raspberry Pi
    Pegasus screenshot 1
     
  11. Phoenicis icon

    Phoenicis

     3 likes
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    Phoenicis is a graphical front-end for Wine, a tool to help Linux and Mac users run games and programs for Windows. The future of PlayOnLinux and PlayOnMac.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    Phoenicis screenshot 1
     
  12. Q4wine icon

    Q4wine

     19 likes
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    Q4Wine is a qt4 GUI for wine that will help you manage wine prefixes and installed applications

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Wine
    Q4wine screenshot 1
     
  13. WinOnX 64 icon

    WinOnX 64

     4 likes
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    Run your Windows applications on OSX without the need of buying a Windows license.

    33 WinOnX 64 alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once or Subscription
    • Proprietary

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    A list of installed Windows programs
     
  14. Porting Kit icon

    Porting Kit

     14 likes
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    Using Wineskin technology, Porting Kit is a PaulTheTall.com app that can install games and apps compiled for Microsoft Windows® in Mac OS X. It has access to a server where we store WSI files for more than 300 games, which can be installed by any Porting Kit user.

    31 Porting Kit alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Skyrim on Porting Kit
     
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    1
    Comments about Porting Kit as an Alternative to CrossOver
    paulthetall
    Positive
    1

    Its free and has the same options.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    CrossOver Icon
    Porting Kit icon
    • Porting Kit is Free and ProprietaryCrossOver is Paid and Proprietary
  15. Hangover icon

    Hangover

     3 likes
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    This is Hangover, a project started by André Zwing and Stefan Dösinger in 2016 to run (x86_64)/x86_32 Windows applications on aarch64/(ppc64le)/x86_64 Wine. (Architectures in brackets are currently not supported).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
12 of 16 CrossOver alternatives